Blender Container Convex Guiding Surface Bridging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Prior blender systems face bridging issues, especially with difficult food products like meats and high-viscosity items, where a liquefied zone forms, preventing unprocessed material from being effectively blended.
Innovation Solution
A blender system with a container design featuring a convexly shaped guiding surface that encloses the axes of rotation, allowing for unhindered material exchange between vortices induced by rotating blade members, reducing resistance and bridging effects by maintaining a continuous flow pattern.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a conventional container design is used with rotating blades, then blending action is provided, but bridging occurs where liquefied zones prevent unprocessed material from reaching the blades
Solution Approach 1:
The container incorporates a convexly shaped guiding surface with continuous curvature that encloses the axes of rotation. This curved geometry guides material flow smoothly between vortices, preventing the formation of bridging zones while maintaining effective blending action.
Solution Approach 2:
The design adds a vertical dimension to material flow by creating upwardly directed vortices that lift material from the bottom of the container. This three-dimensional flow pattern ensures material continuously reaches the blade regions from multiple directions, eliminating bridging problems.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the guiding surface has complex curvature to prevent bridging, then material flow is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The convex guiding surface employs continuous, smooth curvature without sharp transitions or complex geometries. This approach achieves effective material flow guidance and bridging prevention while maintaining simplicity in manufacturing and fabrication.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design ensures efficient and uniform blending by facilitating the exchange of material between vortices, minimizing bridging and enhancing the blending process, especially with viscous blends, through a convex guiding surface that maintains a continuous flow pattern and reduces vortex breakage.
Implementation Method 1
As the product is agitated by the blade members, the product around each blade member is brought into a flow pattern which may be characterised as a vortex. A vortex is a spinning, often turbulent, flow of fluid or liquefied product around a centre line or centre curve.
Implementation Method 2
the first portion collects, during use, the blend materials under the action of gravity to guide said blend into a region of action of each of the first and second blade member assemblies
Data Source
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AI summary
A blender system (1) has a container (3) for holding material to be blended. The container (3) has a first portion (2) with blade member assemblies (6, 8). The assemblies (6, 8) are rotationally driveable around axes of rotation (10, 12).The container has a second portion (4) with a guiding surface (18). A cross-section (38) of the guiding surface (18) which encloses said axes of rotation is a convexly shaped closed curve (20). The direction of the cross-sectional curve (20) is continuously varying direction along the perimeter of the guiding surface (18).